There was an abrupt hiss from behind them and Ash spun to see a spear swishing towards her face. She stumbled backwards, just about avoiding the thrust and trying to assess the situation.

  It was the Lizard woman, Spear, attacking her from behind! Realising her weapon was in her left hand, she brought it into both, attempting to ready her tired and drained limbs for the fight. Adrenaline from shock and betrayal coursed through her and she charged, straight at the snarling lizard woman.

  Her first swing came in hard and fast, aiming to slam up into her opponent’s chest. Spear just nimbly hopped backwards out of range and jabbed again with her spear. This time Ash almost fell when avoiding the strike, catching herself with a hand and pushing herself back straight.

  Now she was pissed. The woman came into her village and was now stabbing her in the back. She needed to put this threat down as quickly as possible.

  Ash blasted forward, firing off a flame burst and using the momentum to carry her hammer forward at blinding speed. Spear’s eyes widened as the weapon rushed down at her head, the blazing hammer glinting with building frost and power. Just at the last moment, her head tilted backward, the lithe lizard-woman leaning away and taking a single step to the side, the explosive swing rushing straight past her. The momentum brought Ash all the way down, slamming instead into the floor, shards of ice and dirt exploding outwards from impact.

  Arms quivering from the recoil, Ash was momentarily stunned. That was when she felt three quick jabs to her side. The attacks so rapid she didn’t yet even feel the pain from the strikes. 3 whole hits. From a capable warrior. Ash’s mind reeled. She would be shocked if each hit did less than 10 damage. With her tiny health pool, that meant she was likely only one more hit from death, that or she was already gone and her mind just had not realised it yet.

  She quickly checked her health bar. It stood, red and foreboding at the corner of her perception. It was still 100% full.

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  Ash straightened, turning to Spear with a confused expression. The woman was holding a spear, yes, but it was wooden, with only a rounded bulge on one end to indicate a tip. A training spear.

  “I win first bout” the woman hissed at her in Saurian, lips curling up in what Ash hoped was a friendly smile.

  “Ah, sorry Ash” Scholar said from the side, practicing his common “Perhaps this is not your… way but the warriors in our tribe take having a weapon on you as an… invitation for training. Helps with… being ready at all times.” He shrugged “…and I think she was bored out here on her own all day.”

  Ash sighed. Trying to slow the pounding in her chest. The woman was fast. Ash definitely could do with training with a nimble opponent like her. But maybe once she’d recovered from her hours in the workshop. Ash lowered her weapon to the ground, raising her hands

  “Okay, you win this one.” Ash tried in saurian “I’m tired right now, but it is nearly dinner. I’ll train some more with you after, okay? Though, we do not practice this… sudden training. Only… train after asking.”

  At her words, the bell rang out, signalling the meal was ready. Spear tilted her head, then moved to place her training spear back on the rack.

  “Agreed.” She responded simply.

  Ash nodded, finally letting herself fully relax from the intense assault. Just a spar to her, but that felt like I was properly fighting for my life there. If that lizard-woman meant me harm, I doubt I’d survive even one of those triple jabs with her actual spear. Just how strong is she? And is that shared by her whole tribe?

  Upon consideration, the lizards had fairly easily taken down the level 5 ant Queen, which was probably considered something of a boss monster in this world. And that was after attracting the full attention of her hordes. Admittedly they had said they needed Ash’s distraction to break through, but she also expected that the group of lizards had been hit by far greater numbers than her group. Despite how endless the creatures had seemed to Ash, Stavos had been surprised by how few ants they had had to fend off when delving into the hive. That was simply because they were all already distracted by the lizard-man attack.

  This just makes me more certain that getting that tribe on our side is the best way forward. We don’t need to make more enemies, let alone strong ones. Ash concluded mentally. Then she smiled at the two, leading them over to the centre of the village for dinner. There was no time like the present to commit fully to working on befriending them.